FAQs

A. Organic farming...
- Encourages Biodiversity
- Helps reduce the use of oil based fertilizers
- Helps reduce the use of artificial pesticides
- Concentrates on sustainable food production

The objective of organic farming is "good food, for everyone, for ever".
Taste is subjective, but we believe that many products taste better as organic. You will need to make up your own mind, but whenever you choose organic, you make a small difference to the part of the world that the product comes from. We think, for the better.

A. Organic farming is an advanced system of farming and working with nature that requires in depth knowledge of the earth’s ecosystems. It is progressive and forward looking.

Organic agriculture utilises modern understanding of ecosystems and productivity to grow food using time-tested methods such as crop rotation and the use of animal manure, without using chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers.

Organic agriculture is about an approach to life which is truly “wholesome”, looking for a long-term ecological sustainability in a balanced partnership with the living world.

Organic farming addresses many of the issues about sustainable food production, the need we have for biodiversity and the pleasure we gain from a more diverse environment.

Organic agriculture understands the confidence we should all be able to have in our food – where it comes from and how it was produced.

A. Organic Apricots are naturally dark because they are dried without using sulphur dioxide as a preservative. This means that you taste the rich, dark and intense flavour of a naturally dried apricot. They are delicious, sweet and full of flavour, and are superb to snack on or bake with. Our apricots are also a good source of fibre, vitamin A and iron.

A. At the time of writing, the packaging used on Crazy Jack products is not recyclable. We assure you that we are very concerned by this, and we are aware that this is not in keeping with the ethos of our range of organic products. For some time we have been looking for an alternative to our current packaging that meets with a range of environmental issues, including the complete degradation of the packaging, as well as the need for the packaging to be suitable to protect our products throughout their shelf life so that products reach you in the best possible condition. Finding suitable packaging that meets with our particular requirements & values is one of the most difficult areas that we have to deal with, as we are seeking to address many of the underlying issues in this area; for example whilst there might be packaging materials that meet some of our requirements in being recyclable, the availability of facilities where such materials may be recycled is also a consideration.

Please be assured that we are continuing to work in this area. We have now identified some packaging materials that meet with our criteria, although we are still some way from implementing changes to our packaging.

A. Crazy Jack Organic foods are available to buy online, in many health food and organic stores, and from leading supermarkets across the UK. If you can’t find the product you are looking for in your local supermarket or health food shop, the WHOLE Crazy Jack range can be purchased for home delivery in the UK through "Naturally Good Food", contact www.goodfooddelivery.co.uk or telephone 01455 556878.

A. As allergen information is being constantly updated to meet the requirements of our customers, please contact us directly at info@crazyjack.co.uk with your questions about specific allergens or products.

A. We have a selection of our favourite Crazy Jack recipes on our recipe page, click here to take a look! If you can’t find the one you are looking for, please e-mail us. info@crazyjack.co.uk

A. Ready to Eat or “Soft” fruits have already been soaked, sealed and pasteurised (a form of heat treatment which prevents bacterial growth). This makes the fruit softer for those who like it that way. Pasteurising the fruit means that we do not have to add preservatives to prevent the fruit from fermenting. Once the pack is opened, the fruit should be eaten within a week.

Our “traditional” dried fruit has been dried naturally to a lower moisture content. This ancient system of preservation ensures the fruit can be stored at room temperature in dry conditions for months at a time without the need for preservatives. In general our fruit does not need to be soaked before eating, but this is a matter of personal choice. It is a simple matter to soak fruit in clean water, or even fruit juice, if you prefer softer fruit, but we do recommend that once you have soaked it, you consume the fruit within a few days.

A. Use of the Fairtrade Logo is restricted to products from projects that have been certified by FLO (Fairtrade Licensing Organisation). FLO only license products and projects that confirm to their criteria and these are in turn restricted to projects in countries defined by the World Trade Organisation as being Less Developed Countries. For example, goods from Turkey are excluded from FLO certification, although the conditions there can sometimes be as demanding as conditions in less developed countries.

This means the range of products we can buy that comes from FLO certified projects is limited, and this is why you don’t see the Fair Trade Logo on all our products.

We are involved in obtaining FLO certification for a number of the producer groups we use to supply our products. In this way, we can improve the pay and conditions of these producer groups. A good example of this is our Mango, where we helped in the certification of the grower group.

Where FLO standards don’t exist for a product, or a project falls outside FLO criteria, we do try and operate to fair-trade principles.

Our first priority however is organic certification (find out more at www.soilassociation.co.uk ) as this embodies many fair trade principles within the very nature of its approach to food production. We can and do use other independent means to certify the social aspects of some of our other projects.

A. Some products do, like our organic crystallised ginger, and some products contain apple juice concentrate as a sweetener. For example, our organic dried blueberries contain apple juice concentrate; this is because a dried blueberry is very dry and unpalatable, without the addition of some concentrate. Our organic cranberries are another example of a fruit with added sugar, as their flavour is extremely sharp, and the fruit is dry and difficult to eat without the addition of some sugar.

We do not have an anti sugar stance, we simply oppose the use of artificial sweeteners (e.g. aspartame) and take a common sense approach to food – eat a varied diet and never have too much of a good thing! Live long and prosper.